Disability Allowance Again!!!

Bof No1

Hi all, first post but have read a lot of the relevant posts to do with this allowance. As short as I can, I applied for allowance in March this year, automatically disallowed and appealed within 21 days, using registered post. No contact on either side until I called Longford in September, to be told that I had been "medically passed" and would have to be means tested. I've had two meetings in the past fortnight in the local Welfare office, with an Inspector and she has sent her report to Longford. The inspector stated that I had "no means" and this is what she would be putting in her report. Does this mean that I'm on the road to being accepted and if so, how long from Longford receiving report from Inspector to final decision and payment of allowance? Also, does the possibility exist that I'm not living in the real world with my belief of this being almost over? Thanks in advance for any help with these questions, cheers, Bof No1.

danjo-xx

that all looks very positive indeed, you'll just have to sit it out until you get the confirmation letter. I'm guessing the work load in Longford is high so you may be waiting a few weeks for the letter.

CZ 453

Hi.Were you sent a letter asking you how you were surviving to date(means)? That's the usual. Or are you passed that?

Bof No1

Hi, haven't been asked that question by letter, but was obviously asked it by the Inspector. My answer obviously satisfied her, it having to do with us having working adult children living at home and help from family and friends. After reading all the difficulties applicants are having with being granted this allowance, I can't believe it could be so easy for me, relatively speaking.( I'm probably poisoning my chances as we speak!) Bof No1.

Bof No1

Hi all, have posted this on another thread, but seeing as this is where I started asking questions, I said I'd post here as well. Continuing from my earlier post, I contacted Longford again at the start of December, to be told that they hadn't received report from Welfare Inspector. I contacted her by e-mail and she told me my report had been forwarded on 24th. November. Rang Longford again, told them what the Inspector had said and after about 15 minutes on hold, they told me they'd received the report, unfortunately, the Deciding Officer was on holiday for a week and my claim would be dealt with when she returned. Called Longford again on 11th. December and was told Deciding Officer had my claim in hand and a letter would issue by the end of that week. Received letter on Monday 16th. saying my claim had been successful, free travel pass included and payment would be lodged to my bank account on 18th., arrears to follow at a later date. 9 months from start to finish, not a long time to wait judging by other people posting on this site, but long enough for me to have to survive without income of any sort. Very happy man at the moment, good luck to all who are still waiting, talk soon, Bof No1.

Grab All Association

Bof No1 wrote: »

Hi all, have posted this on another thread, but seeing as this is where I started asking questions, I said I'd post here as well. Continuing from my earlier post, I contacted Longford again at the start of December, to be told that they hadn't received report from Welfare Inspector. I contacted her by e-mail and she told me my report had been forwarded on 24th. November. Rang Longford again, told them what the Inspector had said and after about 15 minutes on hold, they told me they'd received the report, unfortunately, the Deciding Officer was on holiday for a week and my claim would be dealt with when she returned. Called Longford again on 11th. December and was told Deciding Officer had my claim in hand and a letter would issue by the end of that week. Received letter on Monday 16th. saying my claim had been successful, free travel pass included and payment would be lodged to my bank account on 18th., arrears to follow at a later date. 9 months from start to finish, not a long time to wait judging by other people posting on this site, but long enough for me to have to survive without income of any sort. Very happy man at the moment, good luck to all who are still waiting, talk soon, Bof No1.

1. Good to hear you were sorted
2. 9 months is still a very long time to be waiting
3. You were entitled to Supplementary Welfare Allowance whilst you were waiting for your application to be processed.

At least you will be getting your arrears back but you shouldn't have had to go 9 months without receiving a penny. The DSP local office, disability section etc could have told you that you were entitled to SWA.

If you have no income, you may be entitled to the basic Supplementary Welfare Allowance. If your weekly income is below the Supplementary Welfare Allowance rate for your family size, a payment may be made to bring your income up to the appropriate Supplementary Welfare Allowance rate. If you have claimed a social welfare benefit or pension but it has not yet been paid and you have no other income, you may qualify for Supplementary Welfare Allowance while you are waiting for your payment.

Supplementary Welfare Allowance is not a taxable source of income.

Conditions
You will normally qualify for Supplementary Welfare Allowance if you satisfy the following conditions:

You are living in the State.
You satisfy the means test.
You have applied for any other benefit or allowance you may be entitled to.
You satisfy the habitual residence test, except for an Exceptional Needs Payment. EU/EEA workers and Swiss nationals working here will satisfy the habitual residence condition. However, people from the EU/EEA or Switzerland who move to Ireland in search of employment are subject to the habitual residence test in the normal way while looking for work.
You have registered for work with FÁS if you are of working age.
You will not normally qualify for basic Supplementary Welfare Allowance if you are:

In full-time work, that is, working for more than 30 hours per week*.
In full-time education.
Involved in a trade dispute. However, you may claim Supplementary Welfare Allowance for your dependants.
* This condition does not apply to your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant. However any income they have from work is taken into account in the means test.

mrsbyrne

Chris the OP may have been entitled to apply for SWA but it is means tested and the cut off point is pretty low. We do not know the OPs circumstances so its quite possible there was actually no entitlement to SWA at all.
You have selected one of the conditions for receipt of SWA. All the conditions must be met

maryk123

May be entitled to swa. If there is another household income it's all taken into account. So they may not have been entitled, however, should apply anyway. Nothing to lose.

Bof No1

Hi guys and a Happy New Year to all. As regards the question vis a vis my eligibility for SWA, I didn't apply for it. I took full notice of the eligibility section on the Welfare site and when I took into account all the qualifying criteria, I made the decision not to apply for it. The possibility did exist that I MIGHT have been eligible for it, but I wasn't prepared to put myself through the "procedure" required for the application as we were able to survive until the decision on my DA came through. If I'd had to appeal that decision, with a possible delay of 12 to 18 months, I might then have been put into a situation where I would have had to apply, crossing fingers, toes etc. and hoping for the best, but fortunately, this didn't happen and again, I thank all the people who posted on this site, both past and present, as it was/is an invaluable source of advice/comment. I trust that this answers anything raised in the posts subsequent to my post dated 21/12/2013, cheers, Bof No1.

jack7

If a person is refused first time, then appeals this decision and is granted it after a review, are they entitled to get full back pay? or do you get payment only from the date of the second appeal being granted . There can be months of waiting from time of sending it first to finally getting a satisfactory decision.

danjo-xx

You should get it back dated from the day you first applied, less any other payment like SWA that you may have got while waiting on a final decision.

Bof No1

Hi, back money,(arrears), is paid in full from the date of the application. As danjo--xx states above, all payments you've been receiving, if any, will be deducted from your arrears before you receive them. Also, I'm assuming that there wasn't any break in your application, as in, this being a second application with unsuccessful appeals before your claim being granted?? If this is the case, arrears will only be paid from the date of the second application, not the first.

jack7

It the same application. I was refused only because of husbands means, I sent back for review, refused again. Sent back again, with Appeals Section at the moment, ongoing since June 2013. Not entitled to SWA as my husband works.